It has been a long time in the planning and a relatively short time in the making, but I am thrilled to announce that we now have a podcast for your regular listening pleasure. The PostScript is a production of the thought processes of Sarah Moon (contributor to this site) and myself, along with the editing talents of Josh Moon. In addition, the podcast regularly has guests, particularly Haggard of Can't Buy A Basket for our Australian basketball segments.

We recently launched Episode 1 of the podcast, aptly themed The Beginning. We hope that you have a chance to give it a listen and tell us what you think of it. As you'll see, we combine discussions on basketball (NBA, NBL, FIBA -- anything we find topical and interesting) to conversation on other quirky topics that we think you will find entertaining.

The Postscript (or The PS as we like to call it) is available via it's own website (to listen directly or download) or you can subscribe at iTunes using the button below.        

PS Episode 2 has just been recorded and will launch very shortly!

Back in the day, the Philadelphia 76ers were pretty much the most exciting outfit to watch on an NBA basketball court. With the high-flying Julius "Dr J" Erving and Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins, opponents were bound to be on the wrong end of numerous posters on a nightly basis. 

In December 1980, the Portland Trail Blazers were once such team to receive this treatment from the Sixers. In fact, in this video you'll see six dunks between the two aerial artists, all in the first quarter alone.

I thought you might enjoy this video, as I did, showing Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain as a 17 year old future phenom.

As you may know, Minnesota Timberwolves big man Kevin Love decided that a worthy pastime during the NBA lockout would be to take up volleyball. So how is he doing with that? The Los Angeles Times recently caught up with him...

We've been following Ater Majok for a while (yes, 2008) here at A Stern Warning, from his eventual debut at UConn, to his withdrawal from the program and now to his drafting to the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Whilst many observers have questioned Majok's apparent commitment at times, they have never queried his self-belief. And possibly that trait was one factor which led the Lakers to take a shot out of the blue at him with the 58th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft -- a development that shocked many, particularly given Majok's career-to-date. That career included a rise from the relative obscurity of Sudanese-refugee origins in Sydney's south-west, to his short stint at UConn, to a gun-for-hire role with the Perth Wildcats and Gold Coast Blaze in the NBL.

Whilst Majok has shown huge potential, particularly on the shot-blocking side of things with his 7'7" wingspan, he has yet to make earth-shattering impressions, even in the Australian basketball community. Thus the surprise at his drafting.

However, if you were to watch this workout video that Majok undertook in July with Joe Touomou in Los Angeles, most would agree that he appears to have a tantalising skill set for a versatile big man that can block shots and swing out to the perimeter. 

Recently, also during the American Summer, Inside Hoops found Majok putting on a show at EBC's Rucker Park in New York. Take a look.

Whether Majok gets a look with the Lakers will be interesting. But it appears that they could see him as a big three-man, with the unique ability to change a lot of shots -- not unlike a Lamar Odom-type player. Once the lockout finally breaks, Majok's trajectory will be watched with interest by many, including Australian Boomers coach, Brett Brown.

The National Basketball Association lockout has shaken things up in the generally expected biorhythms of the North American Summer. Ordinarily, we go through a month after the NBA Finals where everyone chills out for a while, before a few big signings and trades happen, followed by training camp and the build up to the regular season. Of course, you also mix in a bit of FIBA World Championships or Olympics action, depending on what year it is. 

Instead this year has seen a series of high-powered meetings between NBA Players Association representatives and the NBA Owners -- and even some court action (the legal kind, not the basketball variety). In addition, a whole series of knock-on effects have resulted from the NBA players not being under the control of their generally very protective owners.

Players have teed up all manner of international contracts for the coming season, particularly centered around the honey pot that is Europe. They have also been involved in various exhibition tours, including a Beatles-esque frenzied All-Star Game in Manila, the Philippines, featuring the likes of Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans, Derek Fisher and James Harden. 

Today's Herald Sun now reports that a similar tour may be coming to increasingly-basketball hungry Australia:

Some of the NBA's biggest names could be headed to Australia under a plan to take advantage of the likely NBA season lockout.

NBA players - including Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Derrick Rose and Pau Gasol - are among an All-Star team that is willing to play a tour of Australia.

It's understood the plan includes three All-Star matches at Rod Laver Arena later this year.

At least two sponsors have committed to back the tour and insurance issues - tipped to cost more than $1 million for the star-laden team.

With a huge resurgence in the popularity of basketball in Australia, subsequent to the rebirth of the National Basketball League and a review of Basketball Australia's structure, an NBA tour or exhibition match has been sought by BA chiefs for some time now. If the NBA lockout were to continue well into the normal start of the regular season, the likelihood of NBA stars downunder would have to rise.

The Educators are back in this Foot Locker commercial, starring Amar'e Stoudemire, Rajon Rondo, Blake Griffin (he's everywhere, isn't he?) along with NFL player Larry Fitzgerald and runner Anna Pierce.

As the NBA offseason wears on, players are still getting out there and playing ball. And Brandon Jennings is one such player proving that he hasn't forgotten how to shoot the rock.

In this free-flowing video, courtesy of hoopmixtape.com, Jennings has some serious one-on-one battles with Josh Selby. Who is Selby you may ask? He's a product of the Kansas Jayhawks, standing 6'2" and possessing an uncompromising desire to score the basketball -- as this footage demonstrates. Having been drafted with the 49th pick of the 2011 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, it may be some time before you see Selby on an NBA court (heard about the lockout?), but when he does, let's hope he learns to dish some dimes.

Selby put up over 40 points in this game and unsurprisingly, Jennings got his too... with some amazing shots from very deep. Clearly teamwork doesn't come into the vocabulary in these types of show games. Then again, that's not what they're about.

Click through at the end of the video to see a previous matchup of the two gunners.

Whilst the NBA off-season / lockout continues, we'll continue to flashback to the good ol' days of the NBA. This 1991 game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers sees Jerome Kersey sky for a rebound, before going horizontal somewhere around the 10-foot mark and then come crashing to the ground.

On his head.

The guy just got right back up of his own power. That is real toughness, not like that fugazi toughness we see from a lot of the prima donnas these days.

Check out the retro video.

Patty Mills has reportedly signed to play in Turkey with powerful club Anadolu Efes, alongside the just-announced Ersan Ilyasova.

Whilst the signing of the Milwaukee Bucks' forward Ilyasova has been officially announced on the team website, the agreement to terms by Aussie point guard Mills has only been picked up by Sportando after a tweet by @TurkishHoops (who was on the money with the Ilyasova news).

It is not clear as to out-clauses for both players should the NBA lockout end, however my google-translated reading of the Andalou press-release is that Ilyasova's one-year deal allows him to leave as soon as the lockout ends (which makes sense given that he has a year remaining on his Bucks contract -- of course, players such as Nick Van Exel, Marcus Camby and Reggie Slater have in the past attempted to rule their contracts invalid as a result of lockout). I imagine that the same applies to Mills' one-year contract, as he looks to continue his career in the NBA -- particularly with the Portland Trail Blazers who have made a qualifying offer to him.

There was rumour-mongering amongst Australian basketball circles that Mills was in talks with various NBL teams, including those with room in the Adelaide 36ers, Cairns Taipans and Wollongong Hawks, however there was always a low likelihood that any team could afford to pay him a market salary.

To their credit, Basketball Australia publicly pushed this angle, saying that they would support the return of Mills to Australia in any way possible, realising the huge benefit he would draw to the sport locally. Mills had always maintained that if the lockout looked likely, he would consider options in Europe and Australia, although the latter was probably a complimentary gesture which he knew had little chance of eventuating.

The signings are huge for Andalou Efes, giving them two NBA-tested players to add to the signing earlier this summer of Sasha Vujacic to a one-plus-a-player-option deal. They were pursuing Keyon Dooling prior to this. Fellow Turkish team Besiktas has already secured NBA All-Star Deron Williams and has been reportedly talking to Kobe Bryant as NBA players continue to shore up their income streams with the lockout looking lengthier by the day.